In the Beginning...
By the time you have hired TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE to be your PCO, you have already met with the Managing Director of the company and one of our Project Coordinators.
But there are other key individuals at the company who become important immediately when we begin the planning process together.
In time you will meet with the Project Manager assigned to your congress. Together we will map out a preliminary budget. We evaluate where the file is to date and a critical path towards the congress begins to take shape.
Meeting the Team...
TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE team assigned to your event reflects the make up of the organizing committee itself. The project manager is the main point of contact for the committee, funneling the necessary information to both the committee chairperson and to the staff at TOPKON and coordinating the efforts of each individual department working on your event.
We often suggest that each committee member is also assigned a consulting role that covers the main aspects for the congress. Just as one person is usually assigned to oversee the scientific program, others can be assigned to the marketing promotional program, the industry program and the cultural program.
This group will come together on a regular basis (we suggest a full committee meeting every two months) to give you a full report on activity over the previous months, what is planned for the coming months and what, if anything has to be revised or changed in our critical path or budget.
Managing Finance
Managing the finance for the congress begins by developing an initial budget together, based on our past experience as a congress organizer, research into your specific event, and several important discussions around the objectives of the organizing committee.
We identify and assign approximate values for the streams of revenue and expenses for the congress. These figures can change dramatically from congress to congress and need to be discussed in depth. We will go through several revisions of a budget to assure that every objective is being met.
From the beginning, TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE will be assisting the congress in raising funds from sponsors, exhibitors and registrations and in some cases in obtaining a line of credit from a major financial institution.
During the entire period leading up to the congress, TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE will present estimates to the committee for upcoming activities, requesting that the necessary funds be disbursed by the congress from the congress account.
The committee provides the funds needed to pay for the materials or the suppliers and once the activity is completed, the actual costs are compared with the estimates, and the reconciliation is done.
The committee approves all major expenses in advance. In most cases, TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE will provide a number of options and the committee will make the final decision.
TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE can never commit to incurring a major expense without previously discussing the matter with the treasurer of the committee.
Decision
MakingHaving been in the business of Congress Organizing for years, TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE has accumulated an enormous amount of experience.
We consider that our first responsibility is to ensure the committee's objectives are met. We know that you count on our expertise to guide you in making decisions that will ensure the financial security of the congress, facilitate your own task and most importantly guarantee the undisputed success of a quality event.
From the beginning, and continuing through the 3-4 year process, we will ask many questions of the committee to learn the goals and values that are important to them. We try to incorporate this information into the options that are presented along with information from our past experiences, whenever a major decision needs to be made.
Professional Fee
Our fee structure was designed with a view to developing long-term relationships with our clients and the industry that supports them. It is the result of many discussions and designed through a collaborative effort between TOPKON CONGRESS SERVICE and past congress organizing committees.